Archive for October, 2009
New FTC Regulations: Are You Following the Rules?
by Robin Embry on October 29, 2009 | 1 comment
in Corporate Blogs, Organizational Behavior, Social Media
Whether you work for a public relations firm or handle the marketing for your own business, it’s wise to keep up with the latest regulations regarding advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released new guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials that everyone in our business needs to be aware of. The new regulations focus primarily on bloggers and testimonial advertising.
Blogging is a highly effective marketing tool and if you follow our blog, you know I recently wrote an entry about the effectiveness of testimonials. So, when these new FTC guidelines were released my ears perked up.
You probably don’t have time to read all 81 pages of the guide; fortunately the Public Relations Society of American (PRSA) summed it up in the following key points:
• Bloggers who receive cash or in-kind payment (including free products or services for review) are deemed endorsers and so must disclose material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.
• Any firm that engages bloggers by paying them outright to create or influence editorial content or by supplying goods or services to them at no cost may be liable if the blogger does not disclose the relationship.
• Advertisements or promotions that feature a consumer who conveys his or her experience with a product or service as “typical” should clearly disclose what results consumers can generally expect or specify how the results were unique to the individual circumstances. (This is an important part of the new regs; in essence, you have to convey what the typical outcome or result of using the product or service would be.)
• If research is cited in an advertisement or promotion, any sponsorship of the research by the client or the marketer should be clearly disclosed.
• Celebrities who make endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media, should disclose any relationship with the advertiser or marketer.
Over the past few weeks there have been several great articles that discuss the new regulations from a legal as well as a business perspective. Personally, while it might be a challenge to artfully craft messages and testimonials that are going to attract attention, I think these rules make a good attempt at protecting consumers. As professional communicators we must remember to be honest, ethical and true to our message.
Cause-Related Marketing Creates Awareness and Customers for Life
by Paula Lovell on October 15, 2009 | 1 comment
in Marketing
What could be better than “doing good” to “better your bottom line?” That’s the notion behind cause-related marketing (CRM). It’s the best kind of partnership between a for-profit enterprise and the not-for-profit world: the perfect venue for a company to grow its business while helping raise money for a worthy cause.
Great campaigns are all around us; and they are quite effective. In fact, before noon today I had already come in contact with at least four cause-related marketing campaigns. 
As I do almost every morning, I had yogurt in my cereal for breakfast, having chosen the pink-lidded Yoplait at the supermarket because of its widely-known relationship to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It’s simple: I buy their yogurt; the company sends money to my favorite cause: breast cancer awareness.
Next, while doing some research at my desk, I ran across a newspaper article on a company with an accessories shop in Peoria. Ill., that has given more than $3 million since 2003 to breast cancer causes by donating a portion of its sales. The article featured the small shop, but was actually a piece on the wisdom and benefits of cause-related marketing from a business perspective. I discovered there is a special event right here in my hometown where I can buy the pretty silver bracelet I admired on their website while making a perfectly painless donation.
Then my father called and asked where to order flowers for a friend. I immediately directly him to a local florist where I have switched my business as a result of their CRM programs supporting breast cancer research. They give 10 percent or more of their sales to the Tennessee Breast Care Coalition. Not only am I a Rebel Hill Florist customer for life, but I know for a fact that I have sent at least six other customers to their doors.
Finally, I have a sweet (and brilliant) friend celebrating an “important” birthday. Instead of gifts, she asked that her gaggle of girlfriends visit her new condo (where, by the way, she and her husband are major investors) to take a look around and make an on-the-spot donation to one of her favorite charities, A Cause for Celebration, which brings birthday parties to children of women who are incarcerated. How smart is that? She was promoting her gorgeous new downtown high-rise (where there are still vacancies) and raising money for a good cause.
CRM is designed to create loyalty, build sales, and benefit a good cause. And if feels good, too.
Getting Dirty in the Details of Social Media
by Rosemary Plorin on October 13, 2009 | no comments
in Social Media
I was fortunate to attend a really well-produced conference on social media last week. Hosted by Mayo Clinic and produced by Ragan Communications, the two-day event was packed with great insights on both proven social media techniques as well as cutting edge innovations. Great case studies included Dallas Children’s Medical Center’s live-Tweet kidney transplant, Operation Smile’s YouTube channel, and Mayo Clinic’s fabulous patient testimonial blog, Sharing.MayoClinic.
It was during a rapid-fire “30 Tips in 30 Minutes” panel discussion that I picked up on perhaps the most valuable and insightful nugget of the entire conference. Social media guru Shel Holz advised marketers to “know the technology behind social media.”
Yeah, right.
Then he recounted how impressed he was when, as a young professional, he met seasoned marketers who could look at a piece of collateral and quickly divine it was a four-color over two-color bleed with a spot varnish on 80-pound text, saddle stitched , embossed on the front with a die-cut for a business card.
Makes total sense to me.
So why do I wince at the idea of trying to understand the underpinnings of an RSS feed, or think that the realities of phishing are somehow not worth my time?
Twenty years ago I was happy to spend three-hours hovering over a Heidelberg, trying to spot match an exact Pantone blue while my hair and skin absorbed the cloying chemical smells of a print shop. Learning social media has proven less cumbersome, but perhaps more challenging (at least for those of us pre-millennials).
Like learning anything to its greatest utility – golf, cooking, public speaking, offset printing – we have to roll our sleeves up and get dirty in the details.
Direct Mail Successful Year After Year
by Jessica Turner on October 2, 2009 | no comments
in Collateral Development, Marketing
One of the projects I have enjoyed working on the most during my time at Lovell is the annual Strength for Service direct mail piece. (Strength for Service is an ecumenical daily devotional geared toward the military and others in service professions.) Each year, we do a mailing to more than 35,000 Methodist churches encouraging them to host a Strength for Service Sunday – a turnkey program for churches to collect donations support this non-profit book.
It can be a challenge to come up with a fresh look and content each year, but we do! Check out the covers from the past three years.
We just received an update from Strength for Service and are pleased to share what program director Larry Coppock had to report:
This year, with a $16,000 investment, we have raised more than $122,000 or more than 10 times what we spent! Lovell has done an excellent job communicating the message of the project in a fresh and relevant way every year.
-Larry Coppock
This piece is an excellent example of how strategic thinking (a direct mail piece to every Methodist church in America) compelling content (stories and testimonials mixed with an easy program) and great design (see images above) can cause people to take action.